Heidewitzka, sir
Heidewitzka, Herr Kapitän is a carnival song written by Karl Berbuer in 1936 .
History of origin and text
The carnival song was written in 1936 during the National Socialist era and is written in the Cologne language. It has a catchy refrain and is sung in the Rhenish carnival to this day. The text describes the annual boat tour of a men's society from Cologne up the Rhine to Königswinter to the Drachenfels , which is almost inevitably associated with the consumption of large amounts of alcohol. The refrain is also reminiscent of the Rhine ferry between Cologne-Mülheim on the right bank of the Rhine and the districts on the left bank of the Rhine. In fact, there was a ferry connection until the first ship bridge in 1888 made ferry operations superfluous. In 1929 today's Mülheim bridge replaced the old ship bridge; however, there is an alternative ferry service for excursions. In honor of Berbuer and in memory of the song, the Müllemer-Böötche monument was erected on Karl-Berbuer-Platz in Cologne.
| Refrain:
Heidewitzka, Mr. Captain |
Standard German translation:
Heidewitzka, Mr. Captain! |
There have been various attempts to interpret the origin and meaning of the word Heidewitzka . What is certain is that it is not a Cologne expression. Manfred Becker-Huberti and Patricia Heberer suspected that it was a corruption of the Hitler salute. The word is used today in German as an expression for “auf geht's!” Or “quickly”, which would support the claim that it is an onomatopoeic interjection that means something like “Hey! Like lightning ”. After all, according to the text, the boat is going with a hundred knöddele (at one hundred knots = 185 km / h).
Dutch version
Almost at the same time as the German version of the song, a Dutch text version of the same melody was created in the 1930s, which was recorded by the pop singer Willy Derby and achieved similar popularity in the Netherlands as the Cologne version in Germany. The exclamation "Heidewitzka" is identical in the Dutch version, but the rest of the text humorously refers to the then rapidly growing automobile traffic.
Temporary use as a replacement for the missing national anthem
In 1953, the song was played on the first state visit of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to Chicago , although Adenauer had managed in 1952 that the third verse of the Deutschlandlied became the official national anthem of the Federal Republic. The Trizonesia song - an allusion to the three zones of occupation of the Western powers - by Berbuer was also played at official receptions at the time.
Cover versions
The song was covered at least six times, including in 1936 by Jupp Schmitz , Will Glahé (1938) and Willy Millowitsch .
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Berbuer - Heidewitzka, Mr. Captain. Retrieved April 12, 2013 .
- ↑ Heidewitzka on Severinstrasse. (PDF; 276 kB) Retrieved April 14, 2013 .
- ↑ Interfering in the history of the Rhineland: Heidewitzka. Retrieved April 13, 2013 .
- ↑ Patricia Heberer: Children During the Holocaust. AltaMira Press, ISBN 0-7591-1984-8 , p. 255.
- ↑ song database. Retrieved February 16, 2016 .
- ↑ National anthem and Basic Law: CDU sings Adenauer's song - taz.de. Retrieved February 20, 2020 .
- ↑ Harald Wiederschein: National Anthem: That is why the “Song of the Germans” causes so many problems. Focus, February 15, 2017, accessed February 20, 2020 .
- ↑ Heidewitzka, Herr Kapitän - Adenauer's hymn coup. Retrieved April 13, 2013 .
- ↑ Trizonesien-Lied caused a stir in 1949. Retrieved April 13, 2013 .
- ↑ Willy Millowitsch - Heidewitzka, Mr. Captain. Retrieved April 12, 2013 .